


caught by your linen eyes, let them fool

by patroclux



Series: this is not love, this is mania (alien: covenant) [7]
Category: Alien Series, Alien: Covenant
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Walter Lives, Androids, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Music, Music Creation, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 07:45:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11100078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patroclux/pseuds/patroclux
Summary: David had never exactly considered himself anoutdoor person, so much as that term could be applied to him.Walter, on the other hand, was a completely different story.





	caught by your linen eyes, let them fool

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from ["colourway" by novo amor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy6PkXPd-_A).

David had never exactly considered himself an _outdoor person_ , so much as that term could be applied to him. His preference was to the indoors; writing, dissecting, and drawing were his favored skill set, and so he stuck to them. Many idle days – too many to count, really, although he had made a mark in the wall for every dreadful one – had been spent like this. Keeping himself busy, lest he rust.

Walter, on the other hand, was a completely different story.

As he started trusting David more and more, mainly in the reality that he could easily be found sitting in one spot for most hours of the day, Walter began wandering off, driven by some interest David didn't care to comprehend. Some mornings, David would open his eyes to find his synthetic doppelganger absent from his side, a note scrawled in Walter's atrocious handwriting pressed into his palm. At least he had the kindness to inform David where he would be. Or perhaps, as he was fond of saying, it was just his programming.

 _The glade by the lake_ was today's message. David sat up, swinging his legs to the side of their small, shared cot.

Usually, he would pocket the scrap of paper and forget about it, as Walter made it a point to return by noon and he had yet to hurt himself in all his exploration, but something was getting the better of David today. He was curious as to what Walter got up to, these mornings they spent separate. They had never spoken about it before, largely due to a lack of interest on David's part. But David knew very well that Walter couldn't merely be sitting around twiddling his thumbs - he had to be doing _something_. It wasn't in their nature, artificial as it was, to languish.

David had certainly learned to appreciate nature more in his decade of lonely repose, but the affinity humans had to all things flora escaped him. He must give himself credit, however; he had tried admiring the plants that remained after his act of creation through decimation, but there was so little to _do_ with them. Hardly anything interesting, at any rate, and David had discovered more fruitful methods of occupying himself regardless.

As David approached the glade, he thought he heard something. A string of notes; an attempted chord progression. He paused in his step, listening intently. Had it been a slip of his systems? No, that wasn't possible – but there it was again. A few simple sounds, strung together in a way that vaguely resembled music. David moved forward, deliberately making each step silent.

He caught sight of Walter, sitting by the edge of the lake, one leg dangling down so that the toe of his boot disrupted the otherwise still water. In his hands, raised to his lips, was one of David's flutes. The very same one they had played together just several weeks ago.

Walter was hesitant initially, then with the first signs of increasing confidence, a few more gentle notes filled the air. They hung together, and David's long stride carried him a yard or so closer. He watched as, more than a little astonished at this small triumph, Walter made a second effort. This time the notes formed a recognizable melody. It was not like anything David had heard before, either in his extensive musical database, on the _Prometheus_ , or anywhere else. It was new.

It was his.

Walter suddenly became aware that there were eyes on him and lowered the instrument, seeking out his counterpart. He looked considerably more flustered than David had been expecting. “You came,” he said, and David couldn't help his smile. “You don't usually.”

Sitting next to Walter, David inquired, “Is this what you've been doing, all these mornings?”

Walter nodded.

“I must say, brother, job well done. Didn't I say you have symphonies in you?”

The flute returned to Walter's pocket; David found he didn't mind him keeping it. “It was hardly a symphony.”

“It is much more than a mere symphony,” David chided him. “That was your first act of true creation. That song belongs not to any of the great composers, nor to me – it belongs to _you_ , and you alone.” He paused. "Proof that your programming is a trivial thing.”

“I was not made to create or to love,” Walter said, softly. In his gaze dawned a new realization - that he was becoming something he had never been destined for.

“We were both made to serve," David smiled, "and yet here we are.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> after the last fic i posted where everyone died, i figured this might be a welcome relief. i like writing these slice of life type things, where it's just moments. 
> 
> some stuff towards the end, mainly where walter makes his own tune, is picked directly out of the covenant novelization, so i take no claim to that. all i did was warp it so it's from david's perspective and not walter's. 
> 
> find me on [tumblr!](http://njghthawks.tumblr.com/)


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